Monday, March 15, 2010

“According to new research, Greek doctors found that marathon runners have increased stiffness of the large arteries, suggesting that some types of high-intensity exercise may actually be bad for the heart, potentially leading to hardening of enlarged arteries, high blood pressure, heart attack and even death.” Yahoo!News

It’s about time the Greeks weighed in. Over the past two decades, I’ve put off serious marathon training in light of their deafening silence. Thanks to my prudence, I won’t need a baby sling for the giant stiff artery.

What saved me from the ravages of intense exercise? The little voice in my head; the little voice I once accused of self-indulgence. I now know it was the voice of self-preservation -- a voice that protested any run in excess of four miles. (Actually, the voice is pretty satisfied with two miles, or on a bad day, just a can of cocktail nuts.)

Clearly, the Greek doctors took their time on this one, as running has been popular for at least 40 years. In the interim, I of course was ready to take any measure that would lead to health and longevity -- 15, 20, 25 miles -- had it not been for the little voice, ever cautioning, “Calm down and eat your Snickers. Wait until we hear from Greece.”

Some people may question the validity of this study, as well as the fact that much of our information comes from Yahoo rather than the Economist these days. The fact that this particular news item mentions no hospital affiliation or even a single doctor’s name. Oh, blah, blah, blah. Go Wiki the research if you don’t believe Yahoo. Better yet, run your marathon. In five years, we’ll see who’s towing their veins around in a Radio Flyer.

42 comments:

Speaking of running. I just signed up for a 3 mile hike that takes place April 11. I don't run. In fact, jogging a very short distance makes me wheeze in an unattractive fashion. I walk. I'm good at that. I have no idea what I was thinking.

Didn't the Greeks invent the marathon? And are they going back on their word now, after all this time? I don't buy it.

I don't trust a "news source" that calls itself Yahoo! Was there a single citation in the story? A link? Anything? Who knows where this information is coming from? (Bellis knows I'm a stickler for citing sources.) What "new research?" Which "Greek doctors?" The exercise may be bad? Puhlease.

I'm not giving up my daily marathon run based on such shadowy "statistics."

As pour moi? I don't run. Do you have any idea what running does to a 64 year old body? Way too much loose......stuff flapping in the breeze. Gravity is already doing it's thing here, why speed up the process?

Pass the nuts and would you mind refilling my wine glass while you're up?

As for all health reports reported in the media, though -- grain of salt. ANything reported by mainstream media comes with a bias toward Big Pharma who pays the bills. Natural health news rarely makes the headlines other than a negative one. The negative vitamin e story a few years back was completely bogus science but it effectively scared a lot of people away from antioxidents.

I digress.

I do think moderation is the key in all things. Well, maybe not ALL things. I think I have PA's selective hearing when it comes to chocolate.

And can mother earth have a little more moderation with earthquakes, please? Who was jolted awake this morning? The weirdest part was the flock of squawking parrots it literally shook out of the camphor tree outside our house.

I really thought it was much bigger since I've been known to sleep through 4.0 ones in the past. In fact, I missed several of the ones during the day that you guys talked about here!

Jon and I both were startled awake and I sat up for a while wondering why I don't know how to shut off the gas in case of a big one. NOthing like a little reminder of the monster under the surface of paradise, right?

Woke up dreaming the dog was wagging her tail in my face. Then thought she was scratching herself vigorously on the bed. Then the house made weird rattling noises and it seemed to go on for ages. I felt personally insulted that the USGS called it a LIGHT quake, but thank goodness it was. (All pets slept through it).

You and all your delightful commenting minions are a riot. The Greeks always try and ruin everything. First the EU, now marathon planners everywhere are shaking in their boots at their mighty bumbling. Just one step closer to reconquering the world.

Am I nuts? It woke me, but it didn't seem like much of a quake. Maybe my experience in the '94 Northridge quake toughened me up. However, last night I did make a list of tasks to do before the big one, so it was a good reminder.

I think the one last June in the afternoon was a 5.0 -- Little Bit and I were at Toys R Us and it was pretty scary to think a wall of electronic Elmos might topple on us.

Petrea, I was in Venice during the Northridge one. It actually TOSSED ME OUT OF BED. THat was the trippiest thing I've ever been through. A bunch of the houses on my block lost chimneys and our picture windows cracked. I lost my collection of vintage tea sets because they flew out of the cabinets in the kitchen.

Oh yeah. I was in North Hollywood. I've got lots of stories. Suffice it to say it's a good thing I got out of bed because the furniture that landed there would have hurt pretty bad had I stayed. I was required to move out of my building for several days while the inspectors moved about the Valley. A building a few blocks from mine topped, but mine was okay.

Great story about two couples I knew at the time: one wife said her husband laid on top of her to protect her from falling debris. The other wife said, "That's nothing. My husband ran around in circles to protect me."

From Petrea: "... one wife said her husband laid on top of her to protect her from falling debris."

The thing about this morning's jolt is that many wives did not wake up. You see, there was only about 10-15 seconds of shaking and then it was over. They just figured it was their husband and slept right through it.

Petrea, my duplex had a big crack right down the middle of the ceiling but that old wood framed place held up like a charm. They said the shaking in Santa Monica and Venice was particularly bad because of the sandy foundation of the soil. The windows along Santa MOnica Blvd. looked like they'd been bombed. I almost left LA after that.

I don't know about crazy. I left tornado land for this. You know, where when it's not tornado season it's -40 degrees without the wind chill factor. And that's every year, not just every once in a while.

Truth is the first Marathoner collapsed and died after zipping from Marathon to Athens to warn the noble Athenians the Eastern Scourge (those Persians)was about to land and do harm to the cradle of Western Civ.